Ways to Say No
by BuckKitty06
Summary: James Potter is persistent in his efforts to date Lily Evans. Here are some of his attempts, and of course, her refusals. A collection of fragments and one shots.
1. One

**Ways to Say "No"**

**A Collection of Fragments and One Shots**

_James Potter is persistent in his efforts to date Lily Evans. Here are some of his attempts, and of course, her refusals. A collection of fragments and one shots._

**One**

Lily rubbed her temples, urging the dull ache to go away. She was in divination, which she wasn't even sure why she continued to take in her sixth year. Well, she did know. It was like a free period.

All that incense, though, was really getting to her. She glanced at her watch and groaned. There was still half an hour left before class was over. They were gazing into crystal balls again, much to her dismay. The last thing she wanted to do with her aching head was to stare into a glowing, hazy ball.

She sat in her seat and waited for the professor to announce the new partners. After a particularly disruptive class the week before, no doubt the fault of James Potter and company, the professor felt that it was necessary for the well being of everyone's inner eye, for the class to be rearranged. Tapping her foot impatiently and rubbing her temples, Lily silently urged the professor to just get on with it already.

"When I call your name, grab a crystal ball and a table with your new partner. Understood?" A collection of groans and nods answered her question, and she continued on. "Everyone up! Line up in the front of the room."

Lily grabbed her bag, a little more roughly than was probably necessary, and stood next to Marlene, her previous partner. Part of her hoped that since they were both relatively well behaved in that class, that the professor might take pity on them and allow them to stay together.

"Lily Evans," Lily snapped to attention at the sound of her name. "And…James Potter."

Lily held in a groan and rolled her eyes at Marlene as if to say, "Well, here we go." Grabbing a crystal ball of the shelf, along with a stand, she made her way over the table that James had selected over by the window. As she sat down, she noticed that he had opened it a crack, much to her relief.

"Thanks," she muttered, placing the ball on the stand with a small thump. "These fumes are killing me."

James nodded and gave her a small smile. "Well, Miss Evans, shall I give it a go first?"

Lily shrugged. "If you insist."

James cleared his throat and then got down eye level with the crystal ball. He had a look of pure and utter concentration on his face as he gazed at the hazy smoke swirling around. His eyes lit up suddenly, and Lily leaned forward in her seat, wondering what exactly it was that he had seen.

"I see buildings…one in particular is standing out of the fog."

"What kind of buildings, Potter?" Lily asked, raising a skeptical eyebrow.

"I don't know. It's coming clearer though. Oh! It's the Three Broomsticks!" James ignored her snort and rolled eyes, and continued on. "You're walking in the doors, alone."

Lily leaned back in her seat, positive that he was pulling her leg. She could see the gleam he got in his eyes when he was about to do something ridiculous.

"I'm alone, am I? Did your inner eye kill off all of my friends?" She asked, jokingly.

"Oh, hang on. You're walking up to someone. A handsome someone, I might add." James said, grinning at her from his position down near the table, gazing into the crystal ball. "I think it's a date, Evans."

"Oh, I have a date in my future. I should hope so. I don't plan on being a spinster, after all." Lily said, shaking her head. "Good job, Potter."

"Well, Evans. You're lucky because that date in your future is with none other than me."

Lily stared blankly across the table where James sat, leaning back in his seat with his arms folded smugly across his chest. He smirked back at her and she simply shook her head.

"Ok, Potter. My turn," she said, not bothering to further acknowledge his proclamation.

Lily, mocking James' previous actions, got down by the crystal ball. She looked into it and, with a small gasp said, "Oh James. I see something."

"Oh, really?" James asked, confidence radiating through him. "Do you see our date, too?"

"No…I see something…well. It's big…and fat.." Lily said, she scratched her head and then sat up with a sigh. She shook her head sadly. "I'm sorry, James. I see a big fat NO in your future."

James threw his head back in laughter, and Lily couldn't help but join in. "You're a piece of work, Evans."

**A/N:**_ Whenever I have trouble writing, I will write little scenes that have nothing to do with anything that I'm writing in the hopes to get things going. I was looking for a document for work the other day on my flash drive and I couldn't find it in all of the bits and pieces that I write and never do anything with. So, here is my solution. Enjoy:)_


	2. Two

**Ways to Say "No"**

**A Collection of Fragments and One Shots**

**Two**

Lily shivered and pulled her school robes tighter around herself to try and keep the chilly air from reaching her. She was doing her weekly rounds of the castle with a Ravenclaw prefect David Something or other. She couldn't be bothered trying to remember his last name, she was too busy keeping her teeth from chattering.

Lily was so deep in her own mind that she hadn't realized that David Something had stopped walking, and had put an arm out in front of her so she'd do the same. She walked into his arm, much to his annoyance.

She glanced around, not seeing anything unusual, and then asked, "What is it, David?"

His brows were furrowed in confusion. "I just thought I heard something, is all."

"Oh…" Lily said, glancing at her watch. At this rate, she'd be out in the corridors all night and catch her death. She very nearly groaned out loud when David did not continue walking, but rather stood staring very intently into a corner.

"I'm sure there's nothing there, David. Let's just go." She was about ready to just stun the boy and levitate him along behind her because she was sick of waiting for him to finish staring into dark corners.

"Do you see that," he whispered so quietly she could hardly hear him. She gazed into the corner and nearly laughed out loud when she saw what had David so freaked out.

There, in the darkened corner, was a foot. She was almost positive that it was James Potter's foot. She recognized the plain black uniform shoe as his shoe because of its one defining characteristic: a large scuff on the outside of the shoe from when Sirius Black had tossed it out of the window in Gryffindor Tower a week before.

"Relax, David. It's just Potter, and since his cloak is ill fitting, I'm assuming Black or Lupin is under there with him."

"Should we write them up?" David asked uncertainly, watching as the offending foot disappeared completely under the invisibility cloak.

"No, it's not really worth it," Lily said, turning to leave the corridor.

"Are you sure," David asked. Lily couldn't help but wonder how this dense boy made it into Ravenclaw. He was starting to sound an awful lot like a Hufflepuff. She nodded her head and began walking away again.

"I'm so touched. I knew you loved me, Evans, I just didn't know how much."

Lily stopped dead in her tracks and turned towards the voice. "Oh yes, Potter. I just made that great sacrifice on your behalf because I'm desperately in love with you."

"You know, Lily, sarcasm just doesn't suit you," Remus Lupin spoke up from under the cloak. So she had been right, James wasn't alone.

Lily chuckled, she couldn't agree more. "Oh, I know. What are you two doing, anyway?" She asked, her tone back to normal.

"Lily, I really think we should write them up…" She rolled her eyes. And people thought _she_ was a stick in the mud.

"We were just out for a stroll. It's lovely out, yeah?" James said, finally removing the cloak. Lily couldn't help but giggle when she saw the disaster his hair had become from being under the cloak.

She watched James move his hand immediately to his hair and attempt to flatten it. After a second he simply shrugged and said, "Well, it's alright. I imagine you'll love me no matter how my hair looks. Right, Love?"

She ignored him and said to Remus, "Aren't you guys freezing? I can't hardly stand to be out here anymore. I'm of the mindset 'don't patrol and say we did.'"

"I don't think your mate shares your views on that, Evans," James said, nodding his head to the now red faced David. "Alright there?" He asked, giving him an odd look.

David nodded his head and said to Lily, "We ought to get going, if we're not going to punish them."

"Since you're obviously deeply in love with me," James started, ignoring that David had even spoken, but Lily cut him off.

"Is that what you think, Potter? That I'm deeply in love with you?"

"Of course. Why else would you put your reputation as Gryffindor Prefect Extraordinaire on the line to save me an hour of detention?"

"Because, I'm almost certain that whatever it is that you're on your way to do is going to land you much _more_ than an hour's worth of detention. The way I see it, I'm saving myself the paperwork, and you'll still get what you've got coming."

"Now, just so we're clear," James said, "I've got a date coming, right?"

Oh, Merlin. She was surrounded by dense boys. "Actually I was thinking more along the lines of you spending hours frolicking through the Dark Forest looking for some rare mushroom or another."

"Yes, well just as long as we're together," he winked and gave her a cheeky smile, which she returned.

"Oh, we will be. Right in here," she said, tapping her heart with a very fake sappy look on her face before she turned to leave. "See you later," she called as she turned the corner with David to finish their prefect duties, trying very hard not to laugh as she heard Remus mutter, "Filtch better watch out when that one graduates. He'll give him a run for his job. He's got the disposition for it."

* * *

**A/N:**_ Thank you for all of your reviews on chapter one! I appreciate the positive response :). I'll be updating this fairly regularly because most of these are already written. I just tweak them a little bit here and there to make them acceptable for public viewing. Enjoy :)  
_


	3. Three

**Ways to Say "No"**

**A Collection of Fragments and One Shots**

**Three**

Sirius Black had sat back and watched his good friend get shot down by the same girl so many times that he lost track. He failed to feel bad for his friend, though, because what else was there to do on a Thursday evening in the Gryffindor common room?

Sirius sat back in his arm chair and watched the scene unfold before him. It was pretty typical, actually, that Lily and James would be studying together on a Thursday evening because they were the only two Gryffindors in their year taking Ancient Runes, or some other class that sounded extraordinarily boring to Sirius.

Lily was, no doubt, rushing to get her homework finished before her prefect patrols. James, of course, would be bugging her and asking to see her answers to he could "compare." She knew that he was really copying, but she never said anything. She only gave him what Sirius liked to call the "mom look" and turned the other way so as to not actually _see_ it happening.

Sirius grinned to himself. That Lily Evans, she wasn't as straight laced as she would like everyone to think.

Something out of the ordinary caught Sirius' attention while he was in the middle of this thought, and he leaned forward in his seat to get a better look.

Had James Potter just tried to kiss Lily? Surely, he hadn't seen that.

But he did. He watched James learn forward so far that his chair was balancing on two legs, leaving him dangerously close to falling on top of the table and, most likely, collapsing it. Lily, wide eyed, retreated from his advancing figure and shook her head quickly, almost falling over backwards.

"Peter. Did you see that?" Sirius asked, not taking his eyes off of Lily and James, Lily especially.

"No…what?" Peter asked, following Sirius' gaze over to the pair sitting at a table in the corner.

Both boys watched as Lily's face turned red, bright red, and watched her mouth move. If only they could hear what she was saying!

James was ruffling his hair, no doubt adding to her frustration.

"If they would just yell at each other like they used to, it would be a lot easier to know what was happening right now," Peter said, still staring intently across the common room.

"Right you are, mate."

James stood from the table, gave a quick wave to a still flustered and red Lily and walked, as calmly as he could manage, over to Sirius and Peter.

"What the bloody hell were you thinking?" Sirius asked, laughing. "What a show!" he added clapping James on the back.

James gave a small chuckle and sat down on the floor between Sirius and Peter's chairs. "I asked her if I could borrow her chapstick."

"You're joking." Peter said, slapping his knee. Between laughs he managed to say, "You've gone completely mental, haven't you?"

James nodded his head and Sirius said, "I think we lost him a while back Peter,"

The three boys watched as Lily gathered her things, threw James one last angry look, and exited the common room to do her prefect duties.

"I'll take it she didn't want to share her chapstick with you, then?" Sirius asked, looking down at his friend.

"Nah…"

**A/N:**_ I'm so glad so many people are enjoying these little tidbits! I thought I'd go for an outside perspective this time._

_Thanks to everyone who reviewed and such. It's nice to come home to a crazy long email from ffn :)_


	4. Four

**Ways to Say "No"**

**A Collection of Fragments and One Shots**

**Four  
**

Lily Evans ran down the stairs leading from the fourth year girls' dorm to the common room, skipping the last two all together, and very nearly crashed into someone on her way to the portrait hole.

"Sorry!" she called over her shoulder as she pushed open the door. Once she was out in the corridor, she stood tapping her foot impatiently as she waited for the staircase she wanted to use to finish changing places. As soon as it was close enough to the edge for the security ward to come off, she ran down that flight of stairs as well.

Once off the stairs, she took a right and at a pace that was just shy of full on sprinting, made her way down the corridor, zigzagging to avoid running into people. She went down one last flight of stairs, and then stopped to catch her breath outside the large doors leading to the library.

Still panting slightly, she pushed open the door and made her way to the nearest empty table. She deposited her bag and then looked at her watch. It was 4:57. She only had three minutes before she was supposed to be outside meeting Severus so they could finish their homework together.

She strode quickly to the charms section and frantically read the spines of the books until she found the one she wanted. Just as she was about to grab it, a hand came out of no where and snatched it up off the shelf.

"Hey!" she said, agitated, turning to see who had stolen the book practically out of her hand.

James Potter, complete with an innocent look on his face, held tightly to the book.

"I really, really need that book. I'm in a hurry. You can have it tomorrow. I swear!" She said, holding out her hand and giving him a desperate look.

"Whoa," James said, putting up a hand as if to tell her to slow down. "Who says I'll need it tomorrow? I happen to need it now."

"Fine. Let me copy what I need. I'm late!" She reached for the book again, but he was too fast for her and he moved it before her fingers could even brush the leather binding.

"You're late, you say? Late for what?" James asked conversationally.

Lily sighed, but she knew she had to answer him or he would play games with her all night. "I'm meeting Severus outside two minutes ago."

"And you need the book because…"

"I need it because I need to do my charms homework and the library is going to be closed when I get back!" She looked desperately from him to the book.

"It just so happens that I need to do my charms homework too. We can share. I've got a table over here."

"What? I just told you I'm going outside to meet Severus."

James rolled his eyes. "Now Lily, what's more important? Your social life or your school work?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "You're just doing this because you want Severus to think I've abandoned him."

James shrugged and thought for a second. "Yeah, you're probably right. But it doesn't change the fact that I still need to do my charms homework."

Frustrated, Lily let out a strangled cry. "What do I have to do to get the book from you right now?"

"You could kiss me," James said, as though he was saying all she had to do was ask please.

She stared at him disbelievingly. "Why are you doing this to me?"

"Doing what? I hadn't realized that my homework was such a problem for you."

"There are other books," Lily said suddenly. "Use a different one! Come on, James. I'll pay you!"

He shook his head and said, "My last offer stands."

"You've got to be kidding me," Lily muttered under her breath. "If I kiss you, you'll give me this book, and then I can give it to you in the common room tonight?"

"Kiss first," James said, grinning broadly.

"No. Book first," Lily said, putting her hands on her hips. "How do I know you aren't going to roach on the deal?"

"How do I know you won't?" he countered.

Lily pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes at him again. "Here's how this is going to happen. On the count of three, I will kiss you and you will give me the book. And no tongue!" she warned.

"Well…here's the problem. I don't want my grades to suffer, you see. I could probably put my essay off for at least three hours, but only if there was some kind of incentive." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at her.

She flicked him hard on the arm and said, "Is that incentive enough?"

"A deal is a deal, Evans."

She could hardly believe what she was doing. It was ridiculous! Why was she letting him do this? She could just kick him, grab the book and run. But he was right, a deal is a deal. She shouldn't have made the deal if she wasn't going to go through with it…And she really, really needed that book.

"One," James said, leaning in closer to her. "Two." she groaned and began preparing herself. She put her hand out, and grabbed the edge of the book, prepared to rip it out of his grasp. "Three," he said finally, leaning in even further.

She leaned forward the slightest bit, gave him a quick peck on the lips, tore the book out of his hands and jumped backwards. "Ha!" she said, waving the book. "I'll see you in three hours, Potter." With that, she turned and ran to check the book out, thinking that Severus had better appreciate what she went through so they could do their homework together.

"Hey, Lily," James called after her. She swiveled and looked at him expectantly. "Don't worry about the book. I finished my essay last night."

If she wasn't in such a hurry, she probably would have murdered him.

**A/N:** _I read this today and thought it was cute. Poor Lily! I feel like this is something that Fourth Year James would do to her.  
_


	5. Five

**Ways to Say "No"**

**A Collection of Fragments and One Shots**

**Five  
**

"Hey Potter!" Lily called to James, two seats down and on the opposite side of the Gryffindor table. "Give me that chicken, will you?" She nodded towards a plate of fried chicken sitting next to him.

"This chicken?" He asked innocently, picking the plate up as though to hand it to her. She reached her hand out and just as her fingertips were about to brush the platter, he yanked his own hand back so that the chicken was out of reach again.

"Hey!" Lily cried, still reaching for the chicken. "What are you doing?"

James shrugged and held the plate close to his chest possessively. "You know fried chicken is my favorite, Evans."

"How would I know that?" Lily asked, finally pulling her arm back much to the relief of the girl sitting next to her.

"Well, you should know. I know that lasagna is _your_ favorite." James said, still clutching the plate so no one could take pity on her and pass her the chicken.

"I didn't realize. Will you please share you large platter of chicken with me?" she asked sweetly, holding her arm out once again.

"Hmm…" James said, looking from her to the fried chicken. "I don't know."

"Just one piece? That's all I'm asking for. I'll give you a massive piece of lasagna next time," she smiled and wiggled her outstretched fingers encouragingly.

James carefully picked a piece of chicken for her off of the platter and then said, "How badly do you want this chicken, Evans?"

Lily's arm was starting to ache, and she was positive that the girl next to her was going to hex it off any moment if she didn't get it out of her face while she tried to finish her dinner. "Pretty bad, Potter. I really, really want a piece of that chicken."

James nodded solemnly and said, "What would you be willing to _do_ for the chicken?"

"I'd be willing to ask pretty please."

"And?" he asked, holding the chicken just a little bit closer to her now frantically wiggling fingers.

"And I won't kill you?"

"Would you go on a date with me?" James asked, holding the chicken just out of her reach. She would have had to climb onto the poor girl's lap to get at it.

"For fried chicken?" Lily asked incredulously. "Really?"

James shrugged and then grinned mischievously. "It was worth a shot, wasn't it?"

Lily watched in horror as he began to pull the chicken further from her reach, all the way up to his own mouth, where he licked it before finally handing it over to her, still grinning.

"Oh Merlin," she said, wrinkling her nose in disgust and quickly dropping the piece of chicken. "Thanks, Potter."

"Anytime," He called back before turning to his friends and placing the chicken between him and Sirius, leaving her no way to get chicken other than to walk down to the other end of the table.

Lily groaned and scooped more mashed potatoes onto her plate. Who needed fried chicken anyway?

A/N: Hello! I'm not completely in love with this one because I'm not really sure if I captured the image in my head well enough. I can picture it happening, so hopefully everyone else can too.

Thanks for all the reviews/alerts/favorites! You guys are amazing. :)


	6. Six

**Ways to Say "No"**

**A Collection of Fragments and One Shots**

**Six**

Lily sat in the common room mindlessly stroking her cat and reading a book in front of the fire. She stopped petting the cat for a moment to turn the page, and the feline nipped at her hand, clearly annoyed. She ignored the cat, though, and focused her full attention on the book in front of her.

James watched this from his seat across the room He knew that Lily liked to read, but it was already midnight and she was usually one of the first to go up to the dorm. He stood up and quietly walked over to where she was sitting with her cat.

Lily looked up and offered him a small smile before turning back to the page before her. "What are you reading?" James asked, taking the chair beside hers.

"Hmm?" Lily asked distractedly. "Oh, right," She said a second later, after what he had asked had finally sunk in. She held up the cover of the book that that James could read it for himself.

"Shakespeare's sonnets, huh?"

Lily nodded and pulled her book back into her lap. "Have you ever read them?"

"Of course I've read them. Who hasn't?" James chuckled.

"Oh." Lily shrugged. "I just didn't know because of the whole muggle wizard thing."

James grinned and shook his head. "You do know that he was a wizard, right?"

"_What_?" Lily gaped at him from her seat. "You're joking, aren't you?"

"'Course not. He was so famous that he was popular in the muggle world too."

"Wow," Lily breathed. "He is pretty much a mystery to muggles. They don't know anything about him"

James gave another chuckle and asked, "If Shakespeare had gone around telling everyone he was a wizard, do you really think he would be as famous? They'd think he was a crackpot and write him off."

Lily laughed. "Alright, you're probably right…" she trailed off and though for a moment before she continued. "I guess I just always forget that there's more to this world than Hogwarts. I'm so ignorant of everything else."

"S'okay," James shrugged. "You're only in sixth year. You've got plenty of time left to learn about the real world." He winked and stood up, stretching his arms above his head and yawning.

"This is true," Lily said, yawning herself. "Look what you made me do!" She scolded jokingly.

"You're lucky a yawn is all I made you do. I could have made you throw yourself at me and beg me for a date."

Lily rolled her eyes and shut her book. "You wish, Potter." She gently picked up her cat, who emitted a low growl of displeasure at being moved from her spot, and made her way to the girls' staircase.

"Night, Lily," James called from his own staircase.

"Night," She called back, already heading up to bed with her book under one arm and her struggling cat under the other.

_**A/N:**__ I was looking through my teaching portfolio the other day and I saw a lesson plan on Shakespeare that I had written ages ago, and when I sat down to write later, it just kept popping into my head. Now, apparently in Lily and James's world, he's a wizard._

_Hope you enjoyed!_


	7. Seven

**Ways to Say "No"**

**A Collection of Fragments and One Shots**

**Seven**

While Lily didn't have much experience in the matter of Quidditch, she was almost certain that the Hufflepuff versus Gryffindor game that had just ended was one of the most nail-bitingly exciting games ever played.

As she made her way back to the castle in the throng of students dressed in red and gold, waving flags, scarves, and anything else they could get their hands on, she couldn't help but get swept up in the excitement and pride at winning such a tough game, and at having advanced to the finals for the house tournament. She found herself practically skipping across the school grounds arm in arm with her good friend, Marlene.

"Did you see the captain's face when that third year chaser passed the ball right to James Potter when the rain starting coming down hard?" Lily asked between giggles.

Marlene threw her head back in laughter and said, "I think someone ought to teach that boy a water repellent charm. Did you see the keeper block that last shot Hufflepuff made before the snitch was caught? Must've broke her fingers…"

"That quaffle was really moving," Lily agreed as they finally entered the castle, the shouts of "Go! Go! Gryffindor!" echoing around the entrance hall and following the crowd of students up the stairs.

Lily laughed and said, "I can't believe we're going on! Everyone thought for sure we were doomed when Davies left the team."

"I didn't know you even knew who Davies was, Lily," Marlene said, following her up the stairs and high-fiving several house members as they walked past.

"'Course I do!" Lily said indignantly. "Just because I don't know anything about professional Quidditch doesn't mean I don't have some Gryffindor pride."

When they finally made it to the common room, Lily and Marlene were all but intoxicated with the excitement that charged the air in Gryffindor Tower. They collapsed into chairs and giggled wildly at Marlene's impression of a particularly bad fumble in the hands of the newest chaser on the Hufflepuff team.

"They're lucky that kid got pulled," Lily said, "I don't think that they'd have put up nearly as much of a fight if he played the whole game."

Marlene nodded her agreement and unwound her scarf from her neck, tossing it carelessly on the table in front of her. "I think that we need to celebrate."

"I think that we already are," Lily said, looking around the common room to find the source of the cheers that erupted a moment before.

"Aren't they so cute? Do you think we were that cute when _we_ were firsties?" Marlene cooed as they watched a group of first year boys all but tackle the Quidditch team when they walked through the portrait hole.

"I reckon we're still cute," Lily said, snickering as she watched Sirius Black enthusiastically hit James Potter on the back by way of congratulations.

Several minutes later, when James Potter approached Lily and Marlene, Lily was nearly giddy with laughter after reenacting several more of the Hufflepuff team's more embarrassing moments during the game.

James watched amused as Lily galloped around in a circle, obviously pretending to be riding a broom. Marlene howled with laughter and threw a pillow, which James could only image was acting as the quaffle, right to Lily, who threw her arms up in the air and ducked to avoid touching it. Her impression of the poor inexperienced chaser was pretty accurate, unfortunately.

James took a seat on the floor facing the chairs that Lily and Marlene were occupying, and when Lily sat down he complimented her on her acting skills.

Red faced and out of breath, Lily simply rolled her eyes and collapsed into her seat again, handing the pillow that was thrown at her back to Marlene, who hugged it to herself as her laughter quieted down.

"Amazing," Lily said, nodding towards James, too tired to say anything else.

He grinned broadly at her and said, "I know, right?"

She was in too good of a mood to allow his arrogance - or maybe he was only joking? She couldn't tell—be a bother to her. She simply gave him a rude gesture and broke into a fresh round of giggles.

"You know," James said once the girls' had calmed down once again. "We need to do something fun, Lily."

Lily snorted and said, "You _always_ think we should do something fun, James."

He shrugged and leaned back on his elbows. "So?" he asked, batting his eyelashes at her jokingly.

"I don't think –" Lily started to say, shaking her head.

James cut her off though. "Ah!" he said, putting up his hand. "Just hear me out. It'll be a good time. We'll go to the Three Broomsticks. Hell, if you want I'd even be willing to take you to Madame What's-it's," he said, nodding encouragingly. "And, don't say no," he added quickly as she was about to open her mouth.

He watched for her reaction, but her face was unreadable for several seconds.

"_Nay_!" she cried out, and then slapped a hand over her mouth to cover the laughter that was bubbling out at the look of completely disbelief on James Potter's face.

"Are you kidding me?" He said, sitting up and laughing as well. "Nay?"

Marlene just shrugged her shoulders and said simply, "You didn't say no synonyms."

_**A/N**__: Oh dear…I have always been a fan of the word "nay," and I really don't know why. I thought after a winning Quidditch game would be a good time for some silliness :) I imagine they're probably sixth years here._

_By the way, I'm so glad that so many people are enjoying these! I'm sure I've said it before, but it makes my day to know other people like these :)  
_


	8. Eight

**Ways to Say "No"**

**A Collection of Fragments and One Shots**

**Eight**

Lily frowned and stared at the crumpled piece of parchment that had found its way onto her desk. She didn't bother turning in her seat to see who might have thrown it at her because she was already certain James Potter would be looking pointedly down at his desk, feigning innocence. She didn't see the point in wasting her efforts.

She ignored the parchment and with renewed vigor, listened intently to every word that the professor was saying. Of course, she had already written the essay on the topic after having copied down the assignment incorrectly during her rush to leave the previous class, so her burst of attention did not last long.

Within a minute she found herself tuning the professor out, already understanding the importance of potting whatever exotic plant it was between the hours of six and seven PM. Or was it five and six? She couldn't really be bothered with worrying about it.

Her eyes dropped down to the crumpled parchment again. She had to force herself to blink several times before the table top came into focus. She mentally scolded herself for nearly dozing off in Herbology.

At this point she had to read the note. It was a matter of self preservation. She needed it to stimulate her brain before she unceremoniously fell asleep in class. What would people think? She was a fifth year, and a prefect, after all.

She gently placed the quill that she had previously gripped tightly in her right hand, though she had not written down a word the professor had said after about five minutes into the class, onto the tabletop. Casually, she picked up the parchment and began to flatten it out.

The girl sitting next to her, a Ravenclaw who she was friendly with, obviously found what Lily was doing to be much more enticing than the lecture on the consequences of uprooting the plant after nightfall. She craned her neck to try and read the note that Lily was now furiously scribbling a reply to. The Ravenclaw girl watched as Lily smirked with satisfaction and recrumpled the parchment before opening it again.

Still unable to read what her neighbor was writing, she watched as she snickered quietly to herself and then quickly tossed the parchment over her shoulder with a deftness that indicated she had done this motion many times before.

James Potter sat impatiently in his seat staring at the ball of parchment he had chucked onto the table in front of him. He knew that Lily wouldn't want to open it, and he had been correct. It had taken her a few minutes to break down and do it, but once she did, he knew that he'd get a response out of her.

He watched as she shook with silent laughter and then raised her hand up, tossing the parchment behind her to where he was seated. It landed with an almost inaudible _flump_ on the pages of the Quidditch magazine he had been idly flipping through before he decided to write her a note.

He snatched it up and opened it, not even bothering to hide his grin or pretend that he was doing something even remotely related to Herbology.

**Dearest Lily,**

**Do me the honor of meeting me by the Black Lake after dinner? I believe that you will find, since we are going to be married and have 26 children, that you will be unable to resist my charms forever. You might as well give in now…**

**Forever Yours,**

**J. Potter**

_Mr. J. Potter,_

_It is with deepest regret and sympathy that I must inform you that I am previously engaged after dinner. And by engaged, I do not mean _to _you, as you have asked and I have said no, quite emphatically if you will remember…_

_It has also come to my attention to you are under the impression that I will be having 26 of your future children. I wish to correct this small mistake – I will in fact _not_ be having _any_ of _your_ children._

_Sincerely,_

_Lily Evans_

_P.S. As for your so-called charms… The only thing that I find irresistible in your presence is the urge to throttle you. That, and the occasional bout of nausea. _

_Again,_

_Lily Evans_

James chuckled to himself and slid the parchment into his pocket as the bell dismissing class rang out. On his way out of the green house, he caught Lily's eye and she gave him a brilliant smile accompanied by a rude gesture. One day, James thought as he returned the favor, she _would_ find his charms irresistible.

**A/N: **_Hello again! This one is one of my favorites so far...it's so simple. I mean, come on, who didn't pass notes at 15? When I was 15, I definitely wrote more than my fair share of notes...Let's just say, I didn't really value academics until college ;)_

_Thanks again to everyone who reads, reviews, alerts, and all of that other good stuff. You guys are amazing!  
_


	9. Nine

**Ways to Say "No"**

**A Collection of Fragments and One Shots**

**Nine**

Lily was frantic. It was the only accurate description of the horrible feeling that was residing in the pit of her stomach. The feeling that was causing her to run circles around the dorm room, picking up scarves and discarded school robes only to toss them over her shoulder and move on to the next item.

Lily was often frazzled, and occasionally panicked, but she was rarely frantic. Of course, she rarely lost important assignments somewhere in the massive castle she called home. Her roommates had long since given up helping her look for whatever it was she was hunting – they had been unable to understand her over the racket she was making dumping the contents of a drawer out onto the hard dormitory floor.

Suddenly, she stood up quickly, so quickly that she nearly fell back down, and stumbled through the large pile of items towards the door leading to the common room. Lily, in her frantic state, was reduced to tunnel vision and almost mowed down several second years as she tore down the stairs.

As she mumbled a quick apology to the girls, she realized that she had been losing things a lot more often lately. She had always been so organized and well put together in the previous years. What was so different about her sixth year? She contemplated the reasons for her sudden forgetfulness and new aptitude for losing things as she trotted quickly to the couch trying to ignore the gnawing feeling in her stomach.

She was only slightly relieved that no one was currently seated on the sofa because she didn't want to waste time explaining herself to someone who would never understand why she thought that maybe, just maybe, her transfiguration essay that was due in approximately twenty five minutes, would be lodged in between the cushions on the sofa.

"Looking for something?"

Lily barely paused to look up as she ripped all three cushions from the couch, tossing them behind her much as she had done to her belongings in the dormitory. "Mm-hmm," she hummed, not bothering to feign politeness. After all, it was probably all his fault she lost her essay anyway. Wasn't she working on it when he had sat down next to her and began pestering her about watching his Quidditch practice?

"Want some help?"

Lily sighed in frustration and ignored her churning stomach and the nagging voice in the back of her head that told her just to accept the help because she couldn't afford to be late yet again. "I'm fine, James." She paused to give him a brief, unconvincing smile before she haphazardly returned the cushions to their spots on the sofa.

"Just tell me what you're looking for," He said kindly, sitting down on the floor beside her.

She sighed and finally gave in to the nagging voice in her head. "I'm looking for my transfiguration essay. It's not in my dorm…This was the last place I remember having it," she said, woefully motioning to the sofa in front of her.

"Right," James said, as though he had been taking mention notes much like a detective. "And when was that?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "You _know_ when it was. It was yesterday."

James looked thoughtful for a moment and Lily began glaring at the couch as though it was the furniture's fault for her missing assignment. "Was that what you were working on before you left in a tizzy yesterday?"

Lily turned her glare to James. "I was _not_ in a tizzy," she said, her frantic state causing her voice to rise unnaturally. That, and the fact that she knew she really was in a tizzy. He knew exactly what to do to push her buttons when he wanted to, and the previous night he had been trying to tempt her into watching his Quidditch practice while he knew she was busy.

James shrugged but grinned broadly. "I think I know where you're essay is, Miss Evans."

Lily sat up a little straighter and abandoned her thoughts of doom. "How do you know?" she questioned, pivoting to look at him once again in order to decide if he was simply tricking her into agreeing to date him. She was always a little bit wary of his intentions after he tricked her into kissing him fourth year.

James shrugged again and his grin broadened. "Because while you were busy blushing and stuttering about not wanting to see if my ego would bounce me back up when I fell off my broom, I saw what you did with your essay."

Lily chose to ignore his comments because she had learned valuable lessons when dealing with James Potter. If you want something from him, he tries very hard to distract you for as long as possible. "What happened to it?"

She watched him closely as he ruffled his hair. "You stuffed it in your bag right before you tripped over that footstool over there." He nodded towards the piece of furniture to her left and she thought for a moment. Had she tripped over a foot stool?

She glanced down at her bag skeptically. She had already dumped the contents out of it three times in an attempt to find the elusive essay.

Just as she was about to call James out on his attempt to trick her, the memory of the night before came back to her.

_Lily bit the end of her quill in concentration. She was nearly finished her with Transfiguration essay when James had sat down next to her._

_She offered him a smile that she hoped told him that she was busy and didn't want to be disturbed. He either didn't get the message, or he ignored it because almost instantly he started chattering about the new Quidditch season._

_Lily pretended to listen for a few moments, but soon went back to her essay with renewed vigor to avoid getting sucked into another never ending conversation about Quidditch strategies. She found herself nodding along and humming agreement every once in a while as her quill nearly flew across the page._

"_You should come," James had said. "I think we could really use an outsider's perspective," he added, winking at her._

_She looked up from her essay and nodded her head, not really hearing what he was saying. "Sure, of course you could," she said politely._

"_So you'll do it, then? You'll come to our next practice?" James asked, sounding like he didn't quite believe the situation._

_Lily nearly poked a hole in her parchment when she realized that she had agreed to actually go watch James Potter at Quidditch practice. Of all the ridiculous things she could have agreed to, it was Quidditch practice._

_Flustered by the realization of what she had done she rolled her eyes and said, "I didn't say _I'd_ do it."_

"_Come on, Evans. It'll be fun. You'll get to see me fly around and boss the team…"_

_Lily rolled her eyes at him again, an action she found herself doing quite frequently. "I'm not really interested in seeing if you bounce when you fall."_

"_Don't worry, Evans. I never fall," He said winking at her teasingly. "I'll be extra safe for you."_

_Lily stood up in a huff and stuffed her parchment into the faded black bag sitting on the floor beside the sofa. "I think you'll find that I'm more concerned about the ricochet when your massive ego causes you to bounce and knock someone off of their broom," she had said, shouldering her faded bag and turning towards the staircase, tripping over the stool on her way._

Lily's eyebrows knitted together as she remembered the previous night. Suddenly a realization dawned on her. She looked down at the bag that sat abandoned beside the sofa where she had desperately been searching moments before. It wasn't the faded black bag she had been using the previous day, but a newer, red bag.

She looked from James to the bag again and nearly laughed out loud as she felt the frantic feeling begin to ebb. As she sprinted up the stairs to her destroyed dorm room, her stomach unclenched and her headache began to dissipate. She threw open the door and ran straight to her bed where she had placed the black bag.

Sure enough, there on the top, sat her hastily finished Transfiguration essay. Just as relief flooded through her, she noticed the clock on the wall. The temporary feeling was quickly replaced by panic as she rushed down the stairs for the second time and nearly forgot to pick up her bag on the way out of the portrait hole where James was waiting for her, no doubt to gloat about his excellence at finding things.

**A/N**: _This was, naturally, inspired by my own frantic search today. I found what I was looking for after I got mad and tore all of the books off my shelf and then found a random folder with a pug dog on it. I'm such a grown up, keeping important things in a pug folder ;)_


	10. Ten

**Ways to Say "No"**

**A Collection of Fragments and One Shots**

**Ten**

Remus and Lily were finishing up their Divination homework when James sat down between them on a sofa in the common room. He put an arm around each of them and said, "Afternoon, friends. How are we this fine day?"

Remus rolled his eyes and pushed the arm off of his shoulder. "I was fine until you came along," he muttered, bending to put his homework in the bag at his feet.

James shrugged and then turned to Lily who was staring at him disbelievingly. "And you, Miss? How are you?"

She blinked at him again and then shrugged his arm off, much like Remus had. "No, James."

"It wasn't a yes or no question," he said slowly, as though she was too stupid to understand.

Equally as slowly, Lily responded, "I said, 'No, James.'"

"I know what you said," He confirmed, "But I don't know _why_."

Remus sighed and stood from his seat. "I'm going upstairs. Don't kill each other while I'm gone."

Lily and James both waved him off, but neither bothered to look at him. They were too busy trying to assert dominance by not staring. Remus thought that all they asserted was that they acted like children around one another.

"Well, I _was_ just doing my Divination homework," Lily said, shrugging her shoulders. "I don't think my inner eye has a sense of humor…It said to say no to whatever you asked me."

"It did, did it?" James asked, smirking. "Well you could at least let me ask you the question. I wouldn't want your inner eye to be disappointed."

Lily thought for a second and said, "I suppose there's no harm in you asking. You already know I'm going to say no."

Smoothly, without missing a beat, James asked, "Would you please not go to Hogsmeade with me?"

"No." Lily blurted out her answer before she took the time to really think about what he had said.

"Brilliant!" James said, slapping his knee and laughing.

"Hey!" Lily cried, giving him a shove. "You tricked me!"

James just shrugged and said, "It was too easy." Lily scowled at him as he stood to leave, his cocky smile plastered across his face. "Don't worry, Lily. I won't hold you to it." He winked and left her fuming on the sofa with her unfinished homework.

How did she _not_ see that coming?

**A/N:** _I know it's been a while since I updated, and I'm sorry! It's that time of year again and I'm already swamped. All I can think about is Beowulf. You're lucky I didn't make Lily rip his arm off like Beowulf does Grendel's._

_Thanks for reading! Especially those of you who are amazing and always come back __ You're basically the best. _


	11. Eleven

**Ways to Say "No"**

**A Collection of Fragments and One Shots**

**Eleven**

"Are those cookies?" James asked, peering over Lily's shoulder form his position behind the couch where she was sitting.

Quickly she covered the tin she was holding with the lid and mumbled something, ignoring the crumbs that had flown out of her mouth.

"They are, aren't they!" James said suspiciously, moving around to the front of the couch. "I can't believe you have cookies!"

Lily swallowed the mouthful of cookie and said, "Why _would_ I tell you if I had cookies?"

"Because," James said, sitting down beside her on the sofa, "you know how much I love cookies."

Lily watched him warily as he eyed the tin setting in her lap. "Everyone loves cookies."

"Yeah, but I _really_ love cookies. Especially chocolate chip."

Lily's eyes widened and she clutched the tin even tighter.

"Are they chocolate chip?" James asked excitedly, a huge grin taking over his face. "You have to give me one!"

"No!" Lily cried protectively. "My mum sent them to me."

"My mum used to send me cookies…" James said, trailing off sadly. Lily didn't buy it though, and rolled her eyes.

"I saw that package you got last week, Potter. You can't fool me." Lily scooted farther away from him on the sofa so that the tin of homemade chocolate chip cookies she had just received from her mother was well out of his reach.

He, unfortunately, scooted closer to her with a devious grin on his face. "Sirius ate all of it. And it was fudge, anyway."

Lily moved as close as she possibly could to the arm of the couch and placed one of the throw pillows over top of the tin, pretending not to notice as James moved closer to her again. "You should have thought of that before you befriended the human vacuum cleaner."

Confusion passed over James' face, and Lily rolled her eyes. "Never mind."

James shrugged it off and decided to try a different technique. "Will you go out with me?"

"Seriously, Potter? You're just asking me so that I'll say no and then you'll ask for a cookie and I'll say yes, relieved that it's not such a huge request."

James smiled widely, "Well, let's just skip the middle man and have a cookie then, shall we?" He asked, practically prying her fingers off of the tin. He reached in and grabbed one of the fluffy cookies filled with delicious chocolate chips. "Mmm," he hummed, closing his eyes in pleasure. "I love your mom, Evans."

"Thanks," Lily said dryly, snatching the tin back from him.

**A/N: **_A friend of mine stopped by and brought me cookies, today. We actually used to live together and once a month we would have a huge baking spree and make mountains of chocolate chip cookies. Delicious._

_Thank you so much for all of your reviews! You're amazing. I never would have guessed that so many people would enjoy these silly little things as much as I do!_


	12. Twelve

**Ways to Say "No"**

**A Collection of Fragments and One Shots**

**Twelve  
**

Lily mentally cursed herself as she stepped in yet another mud puddle on her way into the castle. The harder she tried to avoid getting wet, the wetter she seemed to be getting. After stepping in another puddle, she finally gave up. She could always just dry herself off when she got inside, anyway.

Lily slowed her pace and stepped carefully around yet another puddle as her classmates rushed around her, eager to get out of the cold, spraying rain. She cast a quick drying spell on her bag to try and keep her papers and books from being water damaged, and continued on her way.

She was nearly there when the weight of an arm being thrown around her shoulder nearly knocked her down.

"Potter!" She cried, trying to shrug his arm off. "What are you doing?"

James smiled down at her, water dripping off the end of his nose. "Just thought I'd say hello."

She frowned up at him, and then shook some of the water out of her eyes. "Hello," she said, before she continued to walk, hoping that he would get the hint and remove his arm.

He simply walked along with her, as though it were a leisurely stroll through the grounds, rather than a brisk walk in the cold November rain.

"Anything else, then?" She asked, picking up her pace a little bit more, deciding that she was willing to live with cold, wet feet for an hour rather.

James shrugged, and finally, much to Lily's relief, removed his arm from her shoulder. She pulled her bag higher up and nodded her head, saying, "Right."

They walked in silence for a moment, each of them stepping oddly to avoid puddles and mossy stones that proved to be extra slippery when wet.

"Oh Lily," James sighed, slinging his arm around her once again. "You know, we should do this more often."

"Have uncomfortable conversations in bad weather?" Lily asked, feigning seriousness. "I agree, Mr. Potter."

James chuckled. "We should ditch class and go to Hogsmeade."

Lily was about to answer when James disappeared from her peripheral vision after slipping on a mossy flagstone and landing flat on his butt. After a brief moment of confusion, what had happened registered in her brain and she couldn't control her laughter long enough to help him to his feet.

"Laugh it up, Evans," James said, but he couldn't keep his smile hidden. "I know you're dying to go to Hogsmeade with me," He winked at her as he struggled to get to his feet, but slipped again.

This caused Lily to burst into a fresh round of laughter. This time, though, she took pity on him. She shook her head, causing her red hair, now dark with water, to cling to her face as she helped James to stand up on the slippery rocks.

"Oh, James." She said, still giggling as he gingerly rubbed his backside. "You know me so well."

They walked the rest of the way to the castle in silence that was only broken by Lily's occasional bout of giggling, which would only escalate to full out laughing when James would throw her a dirty look.

**A/N**_ I just realized today that every time I'm reading anything on FFN, the ad banner says, "Classrooms aren't for everyone…" and has some forlorn looking kid…I feel like that ad actively seeks me out (which is ridiculous, I know) because it _knows_ I work in public schools.  
_

_Thank you so much for all of your wonderful praises! I appreciate every word :)_


	13. Thirteen

**Ways to Say "No"**

**A Collection of Fragments and One Shots**

**Thirteen**

Lily felt like she was forgetting something. It was the end of her sixth year at Hogwarts, and she was nearly ready to go home for her last summer as a student. Of course, she wasn't sure that she _wanted_ to go home. It would be the second summer that she was no longer speaking to Severus, and she was afraid she was going to confine herself to her bedroom, not leaving for fear of running into him.

There were rumors of awful things that Severus and his friends had been supposedly doing at Hogwarts, but Lily wasn't sure where she stood on the validity of those statements. It seemed to her that her old friend was an easy scapegoat. Of course, when she thought back on the reasons why he was no longer a friend at all, it seemed very likely indeed that he was behind these atrocities.

After a quick glance around the nearly empty dorm room, Lily sighed and decided that she had all of the important things, and anything else, she could live without. She closed her trunk with a _thump_ and latched it before charming it to float along behind her down the stairs to the common room where she waited for Marlene.

She chose a seat near the window to have something to look at while she waited. Marlene was saying goodbye to her boyfriend in Ravenclaw, and she knew it could be a while before she returned to retrieve her belongings.

Lily looked out over the grounds that she had called home for six years, and smiled. She already couldn't wait to get back in September. She was remembering her first trip across the Black Lack when something in the distance caught her eye.

She squinted and pressed her nose up to the glass, trying to make it out. It was a spot, but it was growing larger, as if it was coming towards her. As the spot got closer, though, it began taking shape, and Lily's confusion only grew. It was taking the shape of a person riding a broomstick. Who on Earth would be riding a broomstick instead of getting ready to go home?

Of course as it approached, the person on a broomstick quickly became a boy on a broomstick. And, before she even had time to register, James Potter's face was hovering just on the other side of the glass, pulling a face at her and laughing at her shocked expression.

She nearly jumped out of her seat and fell backwards, it had happened so fast. She shook her fist playfully at him before opening the window ever so slightly.

"What in the name of Merlin are you doing, Potter?" She asked, placing a hand over her pounding heart. "You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

James laughed and continued to hover on his broomstick outside. "Just going for a fly with Sirius." He waved nonchalantly behind him where Lily noticed a second spot rapidly approaching the window.

"Why aren't you boys packing?" She asked, making sure not to startle when Sirius bounced off the window after having not slowed down enough.

Sirius grinned at her and ran a hand through his windblown hair. "Because we'd rather see you, Love."

Lily rolled her eyes. "Well, I was enjoying a nice view of the grounds before this one here smashed his ugly mug against the window." She jerked her thumb towards James, who only looked mildly offended at having his face referred to as an ugly mug.

"You're welcome," he said, "I know that it's daunting to look at the same landscape day in and day out." He shrugged from his position outside and Sirius nodded his head in agreement.

"We're doing you a favor, actually. Wouldn't you much rather look at us?" Sirius asked giving her a cheesy grin.

She rolled her eyes and said, "Shove off, you two. I'm trying to have a good last memory of my sixth year. I don't want it to include you two loons."

James laughed and said, "So I suppose it's safe to say that the last thing you do before you leave is not going to be agreeing to go on a date with me next term, then?"

"I'd bet my life on it, in fact," Lily said, pulling a face and closing the window quickly to cut off whatever retort James had for her. She smiled sweetly and waved goodbye before pulling down the shade.

Maybe it _was_ time to go home. After all, she needed her three month break from James.

**A/N:**_ I almost feel bad shutting James down like that all the time. It just seems rude! But, at least it's amusing :)_

_Have a great weekend, and thank you for all of your kind words :)_


	14. Fourteen

**Ways to Say "No"**

**A Collection of Fragments and One Shots**

**Fourteen**

Lily sat in her favorite red arm chair in the common room lazily flipping through a magazine. As her eyes wandered over the pictures and completely ignored the accompanying text, she thought back on her day.

It had been, overall, a fairly decent day until lunch. Lunch could have gone much, much better than it had, she thought to herself as she scowled at the picture of the peppy young woman with perfect teeth smiling up at her from the glossy page.

Lily scolded herself for being bitter and quickly flipped the page. What _was_ it with all of these girls with perfect teeth? Lily closed the magazine and tossed it carelessly back to the table where she had found it when she came into the room a few minutes earlier and tried not to dwell on what happened at lunch.

She pulled out her transfiguration homework and began making an outline for her next essay, but wasn't even halfway through it when she looked up and saw James Potter heading her way. She groaned and put down her quill, just in case her normally anti-violent self was overwhelmed with the urge to poke it into his eyeball.

"Evans!" James called as he flopped down into the chair beside her. "How are you?"

Lily refused to answer, only glare at him.

James grimaced a little and said, "I'm really sorry about earlier. You were in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Her gaze did not waiver, and smiled sympathetically. "If you want, I'll ask Sirius to hex me."

Lily briefly considered it, but she wasn't really sure what it would accomplish. She sighed and shook her head.

"It's no problem, really."

Lily huffed and picked up her quill, only after convincing herself she was not going to stab him with it, began scribbling on the parchment below her half finished outline. She dropped the quill and shoved the paper at him.

He looked at her curiously and then picked it up and read it aloud. "_'I hate your face, James Potter_.'" He chuckled. "You hate my _face_?"

Lily nodded and gestured to the paper so that he would keep writing. "_If you are going to lose your teeth, I would prefer that I be the one to do it_," he read slowly.

James thought for a second and then said, "So…you don't have…any?"

Lily glared at him and ripped the paper out of his hands, hoping that it gave him a cut. She scribbled something else down and passed it back to him.

"_No, you great prat. I don't have any teeth, no thanks to you_." He paused. "Actually, Lily. You were the one who walked in front of me. I didn't set out to hex you."

Lily rolled her eyes and before she thought about what she was doing, opened her mouth for the first time since lunch and said, "I'm sure, Potter. You just couldn't wait to try out that new hex on me. I won't have teeth for another four hours!"

The results of her outburst would remain a taboo subject for the rest of James Potter's life.

Because of the extended toothless hex that Lily had wandered in front of that afternoon leaving the Great Hall, she did not have a single tooth in her head. Of course, along with a lack of teeth comes a lack of pronunciation and enunciation. Her garbled speech, along with the obvious lack of teeth in her mouth sent James over the edge.

He slapped a hand over his mouth to try and control his fit of laughter, but she only glared harder. Because her lips were curling in over top of her gums, as happens when one has no teeth to hold them in their place, her glare was not nearly as menacing as she would have hoped, and James began squirming with laughter, trying desperately to keep it in.

"Oh, Evans. You may as well go out with me now…When the school gets wind of this, I don't think there's a bloke out there that'll date you."

Lily pretended she didn't hear him as she stormed to the stairs leading to her dorm room. The first thing she was going to do when she got her teeth back, was find someone to date her, just to spite him.

_**A/N**__: Hope you enjoyed. I've tormented James so much, I felt like it would only be fair to pick on Lily a little bit too. I think that this would be a fourth year type thing to happen. I'm not even sure what prompted this, but I realized that it had been entirely too long since I updated anything. I'm about half way done with the next chapter of Moving, but I don't think it will be up until next weekend :( I'm so busy with work lately I don't really ever do anything else._


	15. Fifteen

**Ways to Say "No"**

**A Collection of Fragments and One Shots**

**Fifteen**

Lily stood in the small courtyard formed between the herbology greenhouses mentally cursing herself for not wearing a cloak to class. She had been running late that morning, and didn't even think to grab it because the day before had been downright boiling hot. But now, as she stood shivering and wishing that her uniform socks went up higher than her knees, and that her skirt wasn't rolled up in a show of defiance of the school dress code, she knew that summer was officially over.

The gentle breeze that had been a welcome relief from the unrelenting heat of the day before had morphed into a rough autumn wind that ripped the leaves from trees and caused the students to jog between classes in the chilly castle corridors. Lily pulled the sleeves of her sweated down over her hands and jumped up and down in an attempt to warm herself. The professor had locked the greenhouse, and now there was a small gathering of students standing outside, most of them without their cloaks, waiting for her to return and let them in.

"Hey, Lily."

Lily turned, wiping a stray tear that was the result of the wind blowing in her eyes and making them sting. "Hey, James," she said giving him a small grimace as the wind blew between the greenhouses again.

"You looked pensive," he observed. "What were you thinking about?"

Lily put a hand, still balled up in the sleeve of her sweater, up to her head to control the hair that was being whipped around by the wind. "Tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches," Lily said, grinning up at him.

"Really?" James asked, chuckling at the odd answer. He had been expecting her to say she was thinking about homework, or a test, but no. She was thinking about soup.

"Yes!" Lily said, sounding a little offended. "You are Sirius aren't the only ones allowed to think of food."

James laughed. "This is true," he admitted, "but I never would have pegged you as a tomato soup kind of girl."

"You shouldn't try and peg girls, James. It's not polite," she said, laughing at the confused look on his face as he tried to figure out if she was being serious and what exactly she meant.

"Hey, Lily?" James asked after a few moments of silence.

"Yeah, James?"

"Do you want to borrow my cloak?"

Lily looked at him appraisingly. Now it was her turn to decide if he was serious or not.

Before she could answer, though, he continued with, "I mean, I'm only asking because I'm wearing pants."

Lily's eyes widened and she slapped a hand over her mouth to keep from giggling.

"What I mean is, " James said, his face noticeably redder than it had been a moment before. "You're wearing a skirt and I'm wearing pants, so, if you wanted to borrow my cloak, you can."

Lily giggled and nodded her head. "Thanks, James. That's very kind of you. And I'm glad that you're…er…wearing pants."

James glared at her as he handed over his cloak. She smiled kindly up at him. "I'm serious. Thank you. It was very thoughtful of you."

"Well, it was the least I could do after I pegged you, and all." James said, shrugging her complement off as she swung the cloak around her shoulders and fastened it at her neck, burrowing into it for warmth. While Lily and James had been close to the same height at the end of their fourth year, by the start of their fifth, he had several inches on her, so his cloak swept the ground around her feet and she nearly disappeared into it.

"You look ridiculous," Lily and James both turned around to see Severus Snape staring at the pair of them with distain.

Lily couldn't help but notice James' wand was out in an instant, and Severus was glaring between the two of them. In an attempt to diffuse the situation, Lily joked, "You think? I was going for a drown rat type look. And besides, he was just being nice, Sev. You would've done the same."

Both James and Severus ignored her attempt, and continued glaring at each other, each spinning his wand in his fingers.

"Yeah, _Sev_," James said, tauntingly, "I was just being nice. In fact, we were about to discuss our plans for the weekend. What are yours?"

Before Severus had a chance to retaliate, Lily ripped off James' cloak and shoved it into his chest, her silly mood from before completely gone.

"My plans this weekend don't include _either_ of you," Lily snapped, walking off and leaving the two of them staring after her for a moment before turning back to insult each other some more.

**A/N:** _Hello! I know it's been too long since I've updated, again. But here I am! Yay! I don't think I've directly included Snape in anything yet. This is the beginning of fifth year, which we all know is the year Lily and Snape stop being friends. I feel like this is the type of situation which helped to push Lily further away from both James and Snape because of their actions around one another._


	16. Sixteen

**Ways to Say "No"**

**A Collection of Fragments and One Shots**

**Sixteen**

Lily gingerly touched her fingertips to her swollen lips with one hand, while she tightly gripped the desk behind her with the other. The room was spinning around her, and she felt like that desk was all that was keeping her firmly on the ground.

Firm. That's what she needed to be.

"James Potter," she said, narrowing her eyes at him as she lowered her hand from her face and used it to grip the desk also. "You cannot just kiss people like that!"

James smirked and rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Do you mean kiss people amazingly, or kiss people unexpectedly?"

"Yes!"

James chuckled, "It wasn't a 'yes' or 'no' question, Evans."

Lily pursed her lips and then snapped, "Unexpectedly, you prat. I never said anything about it being amazing."

He smirked again, and Lily continued to glare at him. "If it wasn't amazing," James asked, "why are you still holding onto that desk?"

Quickly, Lily let go of the desk and crossed her arms defensively. "Well," she huffed, "I'm not holding onto it now, am I?"

James winked at her, "Evans, just admit it. You can't resist me."

"Potter, just admit it," Lily shot back. "You only _wish_ I couldn't resist you."

"That doesn't even make sense, Lily," James said, chuckling as he turned to leave the room. "You can get back to me on that date, by the way."

"You can get back to me on that date," Lily sneered mockingly after he left the room. When she was sure that he was gone, she let out a sigh of relief and slapped a hand to her forehead. How had that even happened?

Lily decided she was being silly. She was just caught off guard when he cornered her and kissed her after class, that's all. She bent down to pick up her bag from the floor where it had dropped from her shoulder. She'd let him know about that date, all right.

Lily nearly sprinted to the Great Hall to catch up with James. When she finally caught sight of him, he was already surrounded by his friends outside the doors waiting for lunch to start.

"Potter," she called, pushing her way through the crowd to where he and his friends stood.

He spun around at the sound of his name, and smiled when he saw her pushing through the crowd, red faced and breathless. "I didn't expect to see you so soon, Evans,"

Lily smiled sweetly up at him and then stood up on her toes, snaking her arms around his neck. She leaned in close and whispered, "James Potter, if you ever pull a stunt like that again, I will kill you."

She pulled away and shot James one more smile before she turned, leaving him in much the same state he had left her in earlier.

"I take it that was a 'no' then," Lily heard Peter say as she pushed her way back through the crowd to where she had seen her own friends waiting for lunch.

_A/N: I'm sorry I've been gone for so very long. I'm kind of back now, but not really. I'm back today because it's Veteran's day, so I don't have work. I'll be back a little over Thanksgiving, and then a little bit over Christmas, and then more permanently after New Years. _

_Hope you guys enjoyed, and I hope that you haven't all given up on me! Happy Veterans Day! Or Remembrance Day! Or Armistice Day! You know, depending on where you are ;)_


	17. Seventeen

**Ways to Say "No"**

**A Collection of Fragments and One Shots**

**Seventeen**

Lily frowned and looked around the transfiguration classroom. It was the first day of her sixth year at Hogwarts, and she was off to a rocky start. After searching frantically for her essay, she was now late for her first Transfiguration class. Of course, because she was late, there were only two open seats. There was one seat beside James Potter, and one seat in front of him.

Lily shot her friends a tortured look, begging them with her eyes to offer up one of their seats for her, but they refused to meet her eyes.

"Miss Evans, if you would be so kind as to choose a seat, we will be able to get started before Halloween."

Lily muttered a quick apology to Professor McGonagall and made her to way to seat in front of James. It would be easier to ignore him if she couldn't see him. Besides, she didn't want to be partnered with him for the entire year.

Ignoring the snickering coming from somewhere behind her, most likely from James and Sirius, Lily sat down in the empty seat and dug out her summer assignments.

"Now, this year we will be focusing on…"

_Thwack_.

Lily closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She was not going to let him get to her today. It was only the first day back in class, and James Potter was not going to win.

_Thwack._

Lily continued diligently writing down every work Professor McGonagall said so that she could not concentrate on James Potter and his stupid parchment balls hitting the back of her head.

_Thwack_.

"Just read it and he'll stop throwing them," hissed the Ravenclaw sitting next to her.

Lily glanced toward the front of the room. McGonagall had her back turned, searching through her bag for something or another, so Lily bent down and picked up one of the balls of parchment from under her chair and smoothed it out on the table.

_Lily-_

_Date? Friday?_

_-James_

Lily rolled her eyes and continued taking notes hoping that he would take that as a no and leave her alone.

_Thwack._

Before she realized what she was doing, Lily wrote a huge _"NO!"_ on the bottom of her parchment, ripped it off and crumpled it up. She spun around in her chair, took her aim and –_Thwack!_- hit James right in the forehead.

"Miss Evans, if you are quite finished, perhaps you will be so kind as to pick up all of the parchment littered around your desk on your way to get your detention form signed."

_A/N: I am on fire! Two in one week ;) That ought to make up for my extended absence, at least a little bit. Hope you enjoyed :)_

_Have a good weekend, everyone!  
_


	18. Eighteen

Lily Evan hated snow.

It was cold, wet, and generally unpleasant. This is why it took her so long to get ready for Herbology class. It was snowing, the ground was already covered and was rapidly being buried under the heavy, wet, snow.

She jammed her hands into her mittens, realized that she had not fastened her cloak, and tore them back off again. She finished getting ready, checked and double checked her bag, and then put her mittens back on.

All she could think about on her through the entrance hall and out into the Herbology courtyard was just how much she _hated_ snow. This was probably why didn't wasn't watching where she was going and ran into someone, hard.

"Oof!"

"I'm sorry," Lily said, instantly looking down to see who she had knocked over.

"Alright, Evans."

Lily groaned. Even when he was sprawled in the snow, his belongings strewn everywhere, he was still trying to be smooth. "That'll teach me to apologize before I look," Lily said, a smirking.

"Help me up, why don't you?" James asked, as he moved to a sitting position and started to gather his belongings. Just as he did so, though, the warning bell rang.

"I'm afraid I can't stick around. Some other time, maybe?" Lily began to walk away, but felt his hand close around her ankle.

"Not so fast, Evans. I'll cut you a deal."

"A deal," Lily said, trying desperately to break free of his grasp. Why had she chosen to wear mittens again?

"Yes, a deal. If you go on a date with me, you don't have to help me gather my stuff. Also, you won't be late for class."

Lily considered his offer for a moment, and then bent down to begin gathering his belongings. "It's aright," she said, "I don't mind. I've still got one more tardy left this marking period."

James laughed from his position on the ground, and then hoisted himself up to stand next to her. Lily couldn't help but laugh at him. His entire backside was caked in snow, most of which was already starting to melt and seep through his cloak. He was going to be very cold indeed.

As she walked into the class and took her seat three rows behind James, she couldn't help but watch as he fidgeted uncomfortably after the professor told him to put his wand away before he had a chance to dry himself.

Lily Evans _loved_ snow.


	19. Nineteen

**Ways to Say "No"**

**A Collection of Fragments and One Shots**

**Nineteen  
**

Her stomach grumbled loudly again. Lily refused to look up and see if anyone had noticed her body's loud demand for food. Of course, she didn't have to wait long to find out because a piece of parchment found itself onto her text book.

_Hungry?_

Lily scribbled a quick _No!_ and pitched it over her shoulder, not caring if landed on the floor and he had to lean over to get it from the floor.

Lily was sure that the whole world could hear her stomach churning and growling. How could they not? It was so _loud_.

She was distracted from this thought by the parchment reappearing in front of her. She sighed. Of course. He never could take no for an answer, no matter what the question was.

She opened the parchment, and there, below her last response was something that caught her eye, and made her hesitate before underlining her previous answer and sending it back.

_I have a licorice wand in my bag._

Lily was pleased to see that James did not immediately throw the parchment back to her. It gave her time to concentrate on trying to calm her stomach and convince it to be just a little quieter. Every time it grumbled, the girl in front of her twitched in her seat, clearly agitated.

That's when she heard the plastic wrap on the licorice wand.

She whipped around in her seat and glared at James as he unwrapped the plastic to release the licorice. She watched, her stomach grumbling the loudest that it had all morning, as he held it out to her with his eyebrows raised. She had to stand her ground. Surely, he would want something for it.

Just when she was about to lose hope, inspiration struck. She held up her finger in a "wait a minute," fashion, and then jammed the other into her bag. She pulled out a sickle from her coin purse and held it out to him.

He smiled broadly, but shook his head, making to take a bite out of the licorice. "No! Wait!" Lily said, without thinking.

"Miss Evans. What seems to be the problem?"

Guilt written all over her face, Lily turned back in her seat to face forward. "Nothing, Professor. I'm sorry."

The snicker behind her was the last straw. When she was sure the professor wasn't looking, she turned around and snatched the licorice wand out of James' hand in one deft movement.

His eyes were wide, but he was smiling as she waved her licorice wand in victory. She took the first bite and her stomach grumbled in approval, thankful to have something to digest.

A moment later, the parchment was back on her desk.

_You owe me._

Lily rolled her eyes and took another bite of the candy. She considered not answering, but, after all, she had just stolen his treat. She thought for a moment and composed a quick reply.

_I, Lily Evans, owe James Potter two licorice wands (One to replace, and one for interest)._

_Signed,_

_Lily Evans_

Lily handed the parchment back to him and whispered, "Keep this for your records, Potter."

As she finished off the licorice wand, the parchment was back in front of her.

_You, Lily Evans, owe me, James Potter a date. No exceptions._

_Signed,_

_James Potter._

Lily wiped her hands on her robes to remove the sticky residue of the candy and picked up her quill. She wrote her response and dropped it on his desk on her way out the door when the bell rang moments later.

_You wish._

_Signed,_

_Lily Evans_

* * *

A/N: Hello! I've been gone for a while, but I'm back now!

Whoa, I can't believe that you guys have left 100 reviews!

I can't possibly thank you enough for your kind words, especially those of you who come back time and time again. You're awesome :)


	20. Twenty

**Ways to Say "No"**

**A Collection of Fragments and One Shots**

**Twenty  
**

Peter Pettigrew would swear that the world stopped turning that afternoon when Lily Evans decided to approach James Potter in the common room.

He would say that as she came in through the portrait hole, her red hair tied carelessly in a knot behind her head, her school tie untied and hanging limply around her neck, and her face and hands speckled with black ink, the world slowed a bit.

As she, in her disheveled state, paused to glance around the room to find who she was looking for, the world skipped a beat.

As she found her target and narrowed her eyes, the world wavered on her axis.

And as she marched up to him and dropped that damned picture into his unsuspecting lap, it stopped all together.

"Care to explain this, Potter?"

James casually picked up the picture as though he had no idea what it could possibly be of. He tried very hard to keep the corners of his mouth from turning up into a grin as he remembered the painstaking measures he and his friends went through to even get that picture.

"Please, Merlin, tell me that this isn't real," Lily demanded. Peter watched as she put her hands on his hips, and blew a flyaway hair out of her eyes. The better to glare at James with, Peter thought.

James shrugged and pretended, as he always did when she confronted him with evidence of his misdeeds, that he had no idea what she was on about.

"You know who might know something about this? Your mate Snape. He is, after all, the one in the picture."

Peter watched as her face flushed an angry red and her fists clenched where they were still resting on her hips. "Somehow," she said, her voice rising much to Peter's dismay (and probably James' amusement), "I sincerely doubt that Severus would advocate this sort of…advertisement."

James bit back his laughter and shrugged yet again. Lily glared at him, waiting for him to defend himself. All he said was, "You've got to give me points for creativity," before standing up and walking off.

Lily turned to watch him go.

Later, he would change his story and say that it was _this_ moment that the world stopped turning.

He watched in horror as Lily took off after his friend who still smiled smugly at his creativity and cleverness. She clearly wasn't impressed.

"Give me that picture, Potter. I don't want you posting that bloody thing all over school." James turned and Lily nearly crashed into him.

He held up the picture and taunted her with it. "This picture? Is this the picture that you want?"

Lily made to snatch it out of his hands, but he was too fast for her. Quickly, he put the picture behind his back.

In his third and final telling of the story (this time to Remus), this is where the world stopped turning.

Lily narrowed her eyes at James, angry and determined to get the picture of her friend back. She flung herself at James, wrapping her arms around his waist and smashing her lips up against his. She grabbed hold of the picture and yanked before untangling herself.

It was over as quickly as it started, but as she walked away, waving the crumpled picture triumphantly, James simply watched her go, completely dumbstruck.

Once she left, Peter approached him cautiously. "That's not the only copy we've got, is it?"

James shook his head as though to clear his thoughts. "Nah, don't worry about it Pete. Here's the other."

James reached into his trouser pockets and produced a copy of the photograph that Lily had tricked out of him. Peter looked down at the picture, laughing as he remembered.

Severus Snape, pale, ruffled, and sleeping in his green clad dormitory bed clutched a teddy bear with the words "Lily + James = Hogsmeade" stitched into its plush brown leg.

"Hey, James?"

"Yeah, Pete?"

"D'you think it's odd that she never once said that Snape wouldn't sleep with a teddy bear?"

_A/N: Hello! You can thank the freezing rain for this mid week update :) True to form, winter really sucks and as I'm sitting here waiting for my phone to ring to tell me school is canceled tomorrow (Or, better yet, two hour delay), I couldn't really find it in myself to write a lesson plan that most likely will not happen, so I wrote this instead. I'm an awful example, I'm sure._

_I imagine that this would be in fourth year. Thanks for all of your reviews and favorites! It makes my icy day better :)_


	21. TwentyOne

**Ways to Say "No"**

**A Collection of Fragments and One Shots**

**Twenty-One**

"Wish me luck, Evans?"

Lily stopped in her tracks and turned to see James Potter standing behind her looking decidedly nervous.

Lily couldn't help but smile a little. She very rarely saw James Potter nervous – or with any other human emotion for that matter. He stood before her, dressed in his scarlet and gold Quidditch robes, his broom slung over his shoulder. He was standing perfectly still, but all of the color had drained from his face, making his black hair stand out like a shock.

"Oh, Quidditch today?" Lily asked with an air of carelessness. She knew very well that it wasn't just 'Quidditch today,' but rather the Quidditch Cup final against Ravenclaw. She watched in pleasure as his eyes widened and he began to sputter something incoherent about Ravenclaw's beaters.

Lily held up a hand. "I was just joking, James. Calm down, will you? You're making _me_ nervous."

"I'm _not_ nervous!" James cried indignantly.

"Oh, please. You'll be fine. I'll be cheering you on from my seat in the Ravenclaw stands."

Teasing him was just too much fun, Lily decided. Where his face had been a sickly pale color before, it was now flaming red. Normally, Lily thought, _she_ was the one who would be red with anger. So rarely had she had the upper hand.

"You're a right traitor, Lily Evans," James said, narrowing her eyes at him. "I can't believe you'd abandon your people for a bunch of…brainy know-it-alls!"

Lily laughed, "I _am_ a brainy know-it-all, James. And besides, I was only joking. Look at me. Do you really think I'd show my face over in the Ravenclaw stands wearing this?"

James, for the first time, looked down at what Lily was wearing. She was scarlet and gold from head to toe. James grinned at her and said, "You're still a traitor. You're only camouflaging yourself. We all know you'll be cheering for your brainy boyfriend."

Lily laughed. "He's not my boyfriend, but, if it wasn't Gryffindor in the running, I might very well be over there decked out in Copper and Blue." James looked horrified, once again.

"I'll tell you what, Lily Evans. I'll make you a deal."

"Oh?"

"Since you're so pro-Ravenclaw, if they win I'll leave you alone for a month. If _we_ win, you have to go out on a date with me."

Lily laughed immediately and said, "James Potter, I'm not an idiot. I'd never take you up on that offer."

"And why is that?" James asked, swinging his broom from his shoulder and leaning on it smoothly.

Lily rolled her eyes. "Because you're going to win, you git."

James laughed and picked up his broom once again. "I'll take that as 'good luck', Evans. Thanks!"

Lily waved him off and picked up her sign bearing the Gryffindor Lion flying around on a broomstick before starting off towards the Quidditch pitch with the rest of Hogwarts.

Three hours later, during the celebration in the common room, Lily couldn't help but turn a furious shade of red when James announced to the entire house that the victory was all due to Lily Evans, her being his good luck charm and all.

_A/N: Hello! I decided to post something sporty today, seeing as it is Super Bowl Sunday. However sad I am that the Ravens didn't make it (Come on…Edgar Allan Poe! What's not to love?), I suppose I can always cheer for the home team…mostly because around here, if you're not a Steelers fan, they can smell it on you. And they're rabid, I'm sure._

_Hope you enjoyed!_


	22. TwentyTwo

**Ways to Say "No"**

**A Collection of Fragments and One Shots**

**Twenty-Two**

Lily had seen him enter the library just moments before, so it came as no surprise to her when she heard James ask incredulously, "Are you fraternizing with the enemy?"

Lily smiled apologetically at her companion and muttered a quick, "Excuse me," before looking over her shoulder to where James was hovering obnoxiously close. "He's hardly the enemy," Lily said, gesturing to the boy who was sharing her table.

"Not the enemy?" James asked, taken aback. "He's a…a…a Hufflepuff!"

Lily gasped playfully. "Well, if only I'd have known that..."

James grinned down at her. "You know, Evans, you just don't know who is the enemy now days."

Lily glared at him. "I've got more reason to be suspicious of you than I do a fourth year Hufflepuff who can't do a summoning charm," Lily said, and then added in "I'm sorry, Ethan. Please don't take offense."

The boy waved her off, clearly accepting his fate as the boy-who-will-not-summon. Lily turned back to James, cursing herself mentally for being so rude while the boy was still sitting right with her. "What do you need, James?"

"Nothing really. I'm a touch bored, though."

"So you thought you'd come to the library and harass me while I tutor a supposedly sinister Hufflepuff boy?"

"Exactly! I'm glad you understand," James said, moving to pull out a chair.

Before Lily could say a word against it, the table had three occupants. Lily and Ethan, the poor Hufflepuff boy looked wearily at James, who simply beamed back at them.

"I'm quite excellent at summoning charms," James said, his smile widening at the look of annoyance on Lily's face.

"No need to rub it in," the boy muttered, turning red.

"Ignore him, Ethan." Lily said, shooting James a dirty look. Who did he think he was, interrupting her tutoring session like that? "And besides, you were getting really close last time. That quill jumped up in the air and everything."

"You're using a quill?" James interrupted quite rudely. "No wonder he can summon it. Why in bloody hell would he want to summon a quill? You summon things you want, Lily."

Lily stared at him, her mouth slightly agape. "Excuse me?"

James pulled a large chuck of chocolate out of his pocket. "I was saving this lot to give to Remus, but he went off and ditched me today." He placed the chocolate on the table before him.

Ethan looked between Lily, who was positively red faced, and James who sat leaning back in his chair, cradling the back of his head in his hands.

"Go on, then," Lily said, snatching her quill and stuffing it in her bag. "Have a go."

The boy shrugged and with renewed determination pointed his want at the chocolate and said, "Accio chocolate."

The chunk of chocolate hovered in the air for a moment before creeping slowly towards him. He got so excited with this new development, though, that he broke his concentration to beam at Lily.

She smiled, although it was a little bit forced, and congratulated him on his progress. After a few more tries, Ethan was packing his back taking care not to squash his newly acquired chocolate which had repeatedly zoomed straight into his hands.

Lily forced another smile, told him to have a nice day and let her know if he needed help with anything else. James clapped him on the back on his way by and said, "Good work, mate."

As soon as he was out of earshot, Lily's eyes narrowed on James.

He didn't give her a chance, though, and immediately started speaking. "I reckon I'm pretty good at this Head Boy business," he said, leaning forward.

"Right," she said, beginning to gather her own belongings. "Right, because interrupting my tutoring session because you're _bored_ is an excellent exercise of your new found powers."

James shrugged. "Better than my old past times, yeah? Anyway, I rather think that you owe me. The poor bloke was hopeless until I came along."

"I owe you?"

"Yes. I helped you out, didn't I?"

Lily stared at him for a moment. "And what kind of thank you are you after here?"

"A date."

"Ok," Lily said calmly. "Although, I really don't think Ethan goes for older guys," she added offhandedly as she began packing her belongings into her bag.

James stared after her as she pushed in her chair and made to leave, his grin wider than ever. "Fair enough. Besides, I reckon he'd be a terrible date,"

"Why's that?" Lily asked, pausing beside his seat.

"The git took all of my chocolate without even a 'thank you.'

Lily gave a small laugh and then patted James on the shoulder. "It's alright, mate. There's other fish in the Black Lake. And hey, I hear the squid is a pretty good date."

James grinned back up at her and when she started to walk away muttered, "You would know."

"I heard that, Potter."

_A/N: Right. I don't usually update in the middle of the week. Also, I don't tend to update around 1:30 AM from creepy hotels with strange leering men working the desk. Long story short, my heater kicked the bucket last night and it's too cold to stay there. Our landlord has generously put us up in the Bates Motel for the night until our heater is repaired in the morning. The reason I'm awake, other than the fact that I'm terrified that Norman Bates is going to pop in any moment and stab me to death, is because I have to wait up for my fiance to get off work so I can let him in. I'm sure Norm/Leering Desk Man will have some lovely commentary for that. Ugh._

_Enough of my woes! I hope that you enjoyed Head Boy James :)_


	23. TwentyThree

**Ways to Say "No"**

**A Collection of Fragments and One Shots**

**Twenty-Three**

Lily and James stood, both rigid and red faced, off to the side in the common room surrounded by a layer of debris.

Sirius Black watched in wonder as the argument unfolded before him. The way that James and Lily fought always amazed him. It was almost as though their arguments were alive, the way that things they argued about changed and morphed into something completely different and unrecognizable at the end.

"Well, perhaps if you weren't so bloody _proud_!" Lily cried, pointing an accusing finger at James.

"Oi! That's rich, coming from _you_." James shot back, his eyes flashing angrily.

"What? What does that mean?"

"Oh, I think you know what it means."

"If I _knew_, I wouldn't be asking."

"What's this? The great Lily Evans admitting she doesn't know something? I always knew you were a bit dense, hanging about with Snivellus, but to hear you actually admit it. Music to my ears."

"His name is _Severus."_

"His name is stupid."

"Oh! I'm sorry. I didn't quite catch that, _Jamie_."

"No one calls me that!"

"They will now. I reckon it's quite as catching as Snivellus."

Sirius sighed. As much as he enjoyed a good show – and he did – he made the mistake of catching Remus' eye from across the room. Now he was obligated to step in and distract the pair of them before they tore one another limb for limb.

He stood from his seat and closed the short distance between him and his feuding housemates.

"You're such a brownnosing prig," James said.

"_Professor McGonagall! Professor McGonagall! Don't give us homework tonight! It's Quidditch tomorrow!"_ Lily bit back, her arms crossed over her chest.

"I reckon," Sirius said when he reached the pair of them and threw an arm around each of their shoulders, "that she's got you on that account, Jamie."

His eyes never leaving Lily's face, James snarled as he shrugged out of Sirius's grasp, "Don't you _dare_ call me that, Black. Whose side are you on, anyway?"

"Yours, naturally," Sirius responded blithely. James rolled his eyes at this and Lily scoffed. Sirius continued, "I'm just popping over to see how you're doing. Sounds like you're in a bit of a row."

"A bit of a row?" Lily said, an edge of disbelief to her voice. "You call this a bit of a row? I'm going to murder your best mate."

"Well, you haven't yet have you?" Sirius asked. This question only seemed to make Lily angrier.

"I should," Lily countered. "Look at all of my stuff! It's everywhere."

"Perhaps if you weren't so _proud_ you'd have accepted my offer to help you carry it!"

"_Perhaps_ I would have if you could ever just pass up an opportunity to make a great prat of yourself and offer nicely!"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize that offering to help someone could ever be rude."

"_Oh, Lily I'll help you carry your stuff if you'll go on a date with me!" _Lily mimicked.

"Well, you could have just said no!"

"I _did_ say no!"

"Yes, but then you stormed off in a huff and tripped over that ottoman."

"If you hadn't aggravated me so much maybe I wouldn't have!"

Sirius shook his head slightly and went back to his seat, making a point not to look to where Remus and Peter were playing chess by the windows. In five minutes time, James and Lily would either be arguing over who is to blame for the bad weather or laughing about something like the last ten minutes never happened, and there was nothing Sirius could do to stop it.

_A/N: Wellll….I know it's been a really, really long time. I'm sorry? It's currently after 1 am and I've just now taken a break from working. I feel super guilty because I haven't updated in, oh, about a million years. Forgive me? Now I need to go to bed because my alarm is going to go off in three and a half hours and I'm going to be completely dead tomorrow at work._


	24. TwentyFour

**Ways to Say "No"**

**A Collection of Fragments and One Shots**

**Twenty-Four**

Lily spotted him immediately when she entered the library. He was sitting at his table alone surrounded by open text books, parchment, and a pile of quills she suspected were broken. The library had steadily been growing busier as the time for OWL's, NEWT's, and final exams drew nearer. Today was no exception. As she glanced around the room she didn't see any fellow sixth years besides James Potter.

She hitched her bag higher on her shoulder and made her choice. If she didn't sit with him, she'd have to sit with a group of seventh years she knew from Prefect duties. Besides, she thought he looked like he could use the company.

"Potter," She said, sliding into the chair across from him.

He looked up and Lily had to hold in a laugh as she saw the red imprint of his hand on his cheek where he had been leaning in his head for who knows how long. "Lily," he greeted before looking back down at the wrinkled parchment in front of him.

"What are you doing?"

"Working."

"Hmm."

The two sat in silence for a few moments. Lily found that the pile of quills were all broken, just as she suspected. She watched as James tapped in frustration on the parchment before him with his quill. The tapping paused and Lily looked up, meeting James's gaze.

"What are you doing?" He asked, his voice amused.

Lily shrugged. "Nothing. Just looking at your quills."

"My quills?"

"They're all broken."

"Hmm."

The silence closed around the two students again. This time, Lily reached into her bag and pulled out a text book of her own, as well as some parchment and a quill. She opened her book and began scanning the pages while James went back to tapping his quill rhythmically on the parchment.

Soon, Lily found the information she was looking for and began to write on her parchment.

_According to the Modern Potion Master's Association, an early form of the Draught of the Living Death may have been made using a different assortment of ingredients than the modern version. It is believed that the new version of the potion came about because of the rare ingredients used in the original…_

Lily trailed off, not at all interested in what the Modern Potion Masters' Association had to say about the Draft of Living Death. Her eyes drifted away from her parchment and towards the window. The sun was streaming in, bathing the tables and surrounding floor in sunlight. It was just so hard to concentrate.

Lily heard soft _flump_ and only noticed that she had dropped her own quill on the parchment. She ignored the large ink splatter that covered the word _ingredients_ in her essay and instead reached into her bag.

"Chocolate?" She whispered when she straightened up a moment later. James looked up from his work and eyed her.

"What do you mean, _chocolate_?" James asked, noticing the suspicious lump under Lily's partially finished potions essay.

"I mean, would you like some chocolate?"

"Lily Evans, you rebel," James said, a wide grin on his face. "You know there's not to be any food near the precious books."

Lily glanced behind her to make sure the librarian wasn't hovering over her shoulder and then broke off a piece of the chocolate with a sharp _snap_ and then quickly shoved it into James' hand.

He took the chocolate with a raised eyebrow and nonchalantly popped it into his mouth. Lily glared at him and muttered, "Show off," under her breath before breaking off a piece for herself.

"What?" Lily asked, holding a hand over her mouth to hide the chocolate that was still in there. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Oh, no reason," James said, grinning at her. "Just never thought I'd see the day Lily Evans would desecrate the sacred house of books," he said the last part in a high falsetto as if in imitation of the librarian.

Lily shrugged. "There's a first time for everything," she said, leaning back in her chair and popping another piece of chocolate into her mouth.

"Right," James said, holding out his hand for another piece. Lily obliged and he tossed it into his mouth. The two sixth year Gryffindors sat in silence for a moment, munching on their illegal chocolate.

"Hey, Lily."

"Hmm."

"Speaking of first time for everything…Want to go to Hogsmeade?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "Let's not get crazy, James." She broke another piece of chocolate off and handed it to him before stuffing the rest in her bag. "I think I've stepped away far away from the norm enough for one day."

"Right," James said, "I understand. You don't want to upset the balance of the universe or anything."

"Exactly. See you," Lily said as she stood up and pushed in her chair to leave. James waved her off and then bent back over his essay and continued working.

_A/N: Wow. So, I'm the only person in the history of the world who did not see Deathly Hallows in theaters. The movie was released today so, naturally, it came in the mail while I was at work. When I got home, I didn't even take off my shoes. I went straight to the DVD player, turned off the living room lights and sat for two and a half hours entranced by my TV. Wow. It kind of makes me want to cry at how bad the first movie seems now, haha._

_Thank you to the all the people who took the time to review! It was especially nice to see familiar names again! You guys are always so kind and I love it. Thanks!_


	25. TwentyFive

**Ways to Say "No"**

**A Collection of Fragments and One Shots**

**Twenty-Five**

Lily slammed her history of magic book closed and shoved it into her bag roughly. "Well," she said, standing up so quickly it nearly sent her chair falling backward. "If that is what you wanted to talk to me about, Severus, I'm not interested."

Without a backward glace at the boy who sat stalk still staring at his hands on the table in the corner of the library, Lily hurried through the aisles of books putting as much space between her and her childhood friend as she could manage as quickly as possible.

She swiped furiously at her eyes where tears were starting to form. How _dare_ he ask her to study and then tell her lies. They had to be lies. Mary MacDonald hadn't cursed herself last year, after all. Lily turned a corner without slowing wiped her eyes again, still fuming about what Severus had told her about his housemates and their involvement in dark magic.

Her friends had warned her not to go meet him. What was she thinking? She knew what he was involved in, and he had already chosen the dark arts over her once. Besides, it was a new year, her sixth year, and she hadn't wanted to start the year out pining after a childhood friend who betrayed her.

Lily picked up the pace and hiked her bag up a little higher on her shoulder. She turned another corner and slammed into someone.

"I'm sorry," she said, her face growing red as she bent down to pick up the books that had fallen in the collision.

"S'okay. In a hurry, yeah?"

Lily stiffened slightly at the sound of the voice and then straightened up, holding the book, a book on Quidditch she noticed, out to James Potter.

"Yes, James. I was in a hurry. Now, I must be off."

She brushed past him before he had a chance to say anything else, and he watched as she hurried away, one hand on the shoulder strap of her bag to keep it from sliding down as she made her hasty exit.

James frowned and, tucking his Quidditch book under his arm, turned and walked back to the table where he had left Sirius with his bag. As he passed the potions section of the library, something caught his eye. Snape was sitting rigid and alone at a corner table.

James paused for a moment and contemplated his options. He could go back to Sirius, grab his bag and go to the Great Hall for dinner, but what fun was that? He could go pay Snape a visit, of course Sirius'd be angry he wasn't included. Snape baiting was his favorite past time. Just as he was about to turn to go get Sirius and go to the Great Hall, the option which James supposed was the most responsible, no matter how boring it might seem, a new thought occurred to him.

Forgetting Sirius and his bag, James left the library in pursuit of Lily Evans. He just knew Snape had something to do with her flight from the library moments before.

By the time she reached the common room, Lily had calmed down considerably. It was nearly dinner time, so she was able to escape the I-told-you-so looks from her friends because the common room was nearly empty, save a few seventh years who didn't even notice her entrance.

She hesitated at the foot of the stairs for a moment, and the decided against going up. She didn't want her friends to think she was wallowing. No more than she had seated herself and pulled out her history of magic book, which she had very little intention of actually reading, did the portrait hole open.

She looked up and wasn't very surprised to see James Potter entered, slightly out of breath with the book she knocked out of his hands still clutched under his right arm.

He spotted her and a large grin took over his face. Lily rolled her eyes and scooted over on the couch to make room for him, knowing it was pointless to pretend he wasn't going to join her. He flopped down on the sofa with enough force to jostle her and she rolled her eyes. It was typical of him to make a scene, even if no one was watching.

"So," he said, stretching his arm out across the back of the sofa, "Whatcha doing?"

Lily nodded towards her history book, "Well, I was going to study, but that's usually impossible with you around."

"Why Evans, I didn't know my devilish good looks distracted you do much," James said, his grin widening even more. She knew this game well. They played it often.

"No, it's more the offensive smell that is always emanating from you," Lily said, giving him a shove. "You stink, Potter."

James shrugged. "Quidditch," he said as a way of explanation. "I was about to go up and take a shower. Care to join?"

Lily raised her eyebrows high up on her forehead and smirked, but said nothing.

"I'll take that as a yes," James said, jumping to his feet and reaching for her hand as though to pull her off the sofa and up the stairs into the boys shower.

Lily slapped his hand away and picked up her history of magic book to use as a weapon. "I didn't say yes, Potter!"

"You didn't say anything. Silence is acceptance. Remember that, Evans." James said, sitting back down beside her and prying the book from her fingers. "Like I'm going to let you bludgeon me with this blasted book," he said, tossing it onto the floor in front of him.

Lily rolled her eyes and leaned back into the overstuffed cushion of the sofa. "I wouldn't bludgeon you unnecessarily, Potter."

"That's a judgment call, I'd say," James said, shrugging. "Anyway, you look like you could use a break. We'll go to Hogsmeade this weekend."

Lily raised her eyebrows again. "That didn't sound like a question."

"That didn't sound like an answer."

They stared at each other for a moment and then just as James was about to open his mouth, Lily clamped a hand over his face and said, "No!" She quickly removed her hand and wiped his on James' arm. "You licked me!"

"'Course I did. You put your hand over my mouth."

"Well, I had to because you were about to say that silence was acceptance again."

James stood up and shrugged. "You're smart as a whip, Evans. You know that?"

Lily kicked his shin gently and said, "I'm only a little offended that you're just now figuring that out."

James gave her a wave and headed for the stairs to go take a shower. Lily watched him for a moment before reaching for her discarded history book. She opened it up and began reading, her encounter with Snape nearly forgotten.

A/N: Wooooow. I'm so sorry for how long it's been. I got all caught up in the end of the school year madness, moving, and well, I was supposed to be getting married and ended up breaking up instead. What a fiasco my life has become! But, I decided enough was enough and now I'm back! Hope you enjoyed! :)


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